On Playing Games

This is not an episode about Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. We’re talking about games. We have racked up literally thousands of hours playing the Total War series, and countless Sundays spent staring suspiciously at each other over a gaming board. Why do we do this? Why do we enjoy it?

Games sometimes have a reputation of being antisocial, but that’s not true at all. In fact you have to develop pretty robust social skills to be locked in battle with someone (friend or stranger), humiliate them or be humiliated by them, and at the end not hate them or be hated by them. The goal, after all, is not to win - it’s to be invited back, to be able to play further games. The real game is infinite, not finite, so there is a subtle blend of competition and cooperation.

Of course playing Total War: Thrones of Britannia or Hearts of Iron IV on ones own is a ...